AN ALABAMA MERCHANT IN CIVIL WAR RICHMOND: THE HARVEY WILKERSON LUTTRELL LETTERS, 1861-1865

Miller, John D

Notes and Documents

When the war is over I hope we will be amply repaid for all of our sacrifices-but if it depends upon our having made them cheerfully I don't know sometimes whether I can claim the reward or not.

Harvey Luttrell

THE CIVIL WAR EXPERIENCE OF PVT. HARVEY WILKERSON LUTTRELL (1822-99) highlights the tenuousness of efforts to generalize why men participated in this country's bloodiest conflict. As seen through the following fourteen wartime letters,1 this middle-aged merchant and father from northeast Alabama embodied the human complexities that have plagued scholars' attempts to establish tidy patterns of motivation, particularly among members of the non-slaveholding southern middle class. Although a secessionist, for example, Luttrell was unabashedly reluctant to contribute much to the war effort. When eventually compelled to join the Confederate army, he expressed preoccupation with family to a far greater degree than either ideology or honor. Nevertheless, despite his aching homesickness, Luttrell remained optimistic about Confederate independence and faithful to his oath of enlistment until war's end, never entertaining the option of desertion that seduced so many of his fellow north Alabamians. These seemingly incongruous positions led Luttrell to contradict himself freely, and they challenge historians to develop a more nuanced understanding of the competing desires that guided the behavior and rhetoric of men in Confederate uniforms.

Luttrell's letters to his family, especially to his wife Sue, also reveal the conditions of the homefront in both rural Alabama and the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, during the war. He chronicled the volatile political and economic atmosphere of a small market town on the eve of secession, the currency inflation and financial insecurity that escalated throughout the conflict, and the fear and anxiety he experienced while separated from his young family. Readers looking for an eyewitness account of bloody battles or life in camp may be disappointed. The following correspondence does not chronicle the great campaigns or personae of the Civil War. Instead, the letters offer insight into the complexities of a southerner who was trapped by conflicting notions of duty, and they illustrate the ways he attempted to cope with the consequences.

H. W. Luttrell, or Harvey, as he signed his letters, was born on November 19, 1822, in Knox County, Tennessee, to farmer Richard Luttrell (1792-1871) and Mary Turnley Luttrell (1797-1831). The fourth of seven children, he received a modest formal education. In 1844 he went to live with his maternal uncle, Matthew J. Turnley (1819-89), a judge and future U.S. attorney living in Cedar Bluff, Alabama, where Luttrell continued his schooling. Two years later he moved to the nearby town of Alexandria in Benton County (renamed Calhoun County in 1858), where he served as the town's deputy postmaster and clerked in a store owned by two men named McMillan and Isbell. In 1852 the owners sent Luttrell to the county seat of Oxford to manage their branch store. Here the thirty-year-old Luttrell put down roots, and in 1856 he purchased the store in partnership with his brother, William Cunnyngham Luttrell. In December of that year he married Susan Francis Elston, the daughter of a local teacher.2

At the time of Abraham Lincoln's election in the fall of 1860, Luttrell was solidifying his place in Calhoun County's mercantile community. He was making a living as a storekeeper in Oxford, and he had purchased a small farm a few miles outside of town. No records of his income exist, but the 1860 census lists him as owning land valued for tax purposes at six hundred dollars and personal property valued at twenty-five hundred dollars.3 But the chain of events triggered by the presidential election soon turned Luttrell's world upside down. Calhoun County was something of an anomaly in north Alabama by being ardently pro-secession; its delegates voted to "straight out" secede at Alabama's secession convention on January 11, 1861, instead of waiting to do so jointly with other states.4 As he wrote to his father in 1861, Luttrell counted himself among the more moderate "cooperationists," signaling his guarded support for southern independence. Indeed, the merchant's political convictions straddled the divide in southern opinion. On one hand he resented "northern aggression" and expressed his antipathy for Lincoln and the Republicans, but on the other hand he disdained the Democratic Party.3 Although not an ardent secessionist, Luttrell chided those in east Tennessee, where his father still resided, who resisted the inevitability of disunion. Ultimately, however, the thirty-eight-year-old Luttrell's hesitancy to serve-not his political pronouncements-reveals most clearly the limits of his devotion to the Confederate cause. A reluctant soldier, Luttrell did not enter the army until January 1863.

Like other middle- and lower-class white southerners, especially older men with families, Luttrell had little to win on the battlefield but a great deal to lose. As he told his father just after the Battle of First Manassas, both taxes and the prices of goods were on the rise, and without his presence, the success-even the viability-of his farm and store would be in question. Additionally, as his subsequent letters to his wife make clear, Luttrell was anxious over the health and upbringing of their four young children. Confederate conscription laws, however, seem to have forced Luttrell's hand. Whether drafted or a voluntary enlistee to avoid the stigma of being a conscript, he took his oath to the Confederacy and became a private in Company G, 10th Alabama Infantry, in nearby Jacksonville on January 31, 1863.6

The 10th Alabama Infantry was originally organized at Montgomery on June 4, 1861, with men from Calhoun and the surrounding counties. Companies D and G, in particular, drewfrom Oxford, Jacksonville, and Alexandria. By the time Luttrell joined the unit, it had already served with distinction with the Army of Northern Virginia. After enlisting, however, Luttrell saw little action with them in the field. Prior to the summer campaigns of 1863, Luttrell was detailed on April 30 as a hospital nurse, being declared unfit for combat due to asthma and rheumatism.7 His surviving letters to Sue began the next month and chronicle his journey from one hospital to another in Richmond as he filled a series of nursing and clerical positions.

The bulk of Luttrell's correspondence is from his duty stations at these hospitals. The letters are curiously void of anything but a passing mention of the carnage that he must have witnessed as the casualties from the Army of Northern Virginia poured in. Luttrell perhaps wished to spare his wife the gruesome details of injuries and deaths, but he did describe the conflict's other effects: the rising cost of food, the deaths of neighbors, comings and goings of relatives in uniform, acts of espionage, wartime speeches, and most frequently, loneliness and homesickness. Although these letters do not add firsthand accounts of Pickett's Charge or the Bloody Angle to the historical record, their sentimentality does challenge popular perceptions of antebellum southern masculinity as flinty or cavalier machismo. Luttrell's longings for his family, particularly Sue, support historian Stephen Berry's recent argument that southern men's "oft vaunted independence was in fact an elaborate ruse. They, as much as women, depended on members of the opposite sex to validate and make meaningful their struggles and successes, to aid, comfort, and believe in them." Luttrell's concern for his children's welfare buttresses James Marten's argument that southern men of this era were more domestically oriented than they have been considered heretofore.8 Because of his lingering infirmities (and likely his homesickness), Luttrell waged a private campaign to return to Alabama. Just a little over three months into his enlistment, he wrote to Sue with hopes for a discharge once his hospital was empty of patients. He also tried to obtain a transfer to a duty station nearer to home, but neither wish was fulfilled.

His desperation to return home notwithstanding, Luttrell never lost faith in the eventual success of the southern cause. Throughout the war, as Richmond was threatened several times and he was in danger of being called to its defense, the homesick merchant expressed a continued belief in the superiority of the Confederate army. Even in late 1864, with Grant at Petersburg and Sherman marching through Georgia, Luttrell never acknowledged the possibility of southern defeat, only a continuation of the struggle: "If we hold Richmond the war is ended-If we loose [sic] it-the war is prolonged."

But Luttrell was to be an eyewitness to the death throes of the Confederacy. The only surviving references to his experience in combat are in October 1864, when the need for troops required him to report to his unit in the trenches of Petersburg. Once again, however, his feebleness earned him a ten-day pass from duty. (It is tempting to wonder if he suffered merely from a case of "canon fever" after finally seeing the front lines.9) Whether he stayed in Petersburg is unknown, but the end of the war found him in Richmond, where he was captured following the city's fall on April 3. He was paroled two weeks later on April 18, nine days after Lee's surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox.10 No record of Luttrell's reaction to the end of the Confederacy survives, but regardless of his thoughts on the failure of southern independence, no man in gray was likely happier to leave Richmond for his home and his beloved "little angels" in Alabama.

After a lengthy journey by steamship and on foot, Luttrell arrived home on May 7, 1865, to find his farm in poor shape from the effects of the war. The Luttrell family fared well, however, compared to the many southerners who lost property, money, or family members during the war. All of the Luttrell and Elston men who served in uniform survived the war unscathed. In 1870 Luttrell was listed in the census as owning real estate valued at fourteen hundred dollars for tax purposes and personal property worth five hundred dollars.11

Luttrell's family grew by three more sons, born in 1868, 1870, and 1877, respectively. In 1875 the Luttrells moved into town so their children could attend Oxford College, a local academy. Harvey and Sue lived there until her death in 1897. Luttrell then moved south to Brewton in Escambia County, Alabama, where his children had become involved in banking and had started a hardware business in the 1880s and early 1890s. Luttrell returned to Oxford in 1898 and married Sue's sister, Martha Elizabeth Elston Dendy Doyle, perhaps to guarantee her his veteran's pension. He died the next year on July 26 and was buried in Oxford, next to his first wife.12

Oxford Ala. July 30th 1861

Dear Father

A prediction that I heard you make when I was only a child, has at length come to pass viz-Civil War in what was once the United States of America, but which are now as completely disunited as they could probably be. I was not for separate state action, belonged to what was called in this country, the Cooperation party, but we were defeated by a considerable majority and of course I had to yield to their decision13-but I have been for resistance to northern aggression for the last two years and quit voting with the Democratic party because they were willing to take any course in politics that would secure to them the offices-14

I greatly lament the present state of affairs-for there is no telling how long this unholy war will continue and I am really at a loss to know how any man, born and raised in the south can find any excuse whatsoever to aid and assist the Lincoln Government, still from newspaper accounts you have such in your part of the state, but I am happy to learn through the same source that the opposition to the Southern government is materially diminishing, this is as it should be, and I hope the people of East Tenn. will in a short time see the evil that is bound to follow a course of insubordination to the will of an overwhelming majority.

We have had news of the great and decisive victory of our Army at Manassas for several days; though it seems that it was attended with considerable loss on our side;15 but I hope that a few more engagements will satisfy the Lincoln Government that we are able and willing to sustain our position.

The crops were never more promising in this country, than they are at present. The wheat crop was very good-and I think we will be prepared to do without western supplies, with but little inconvenience for another year; every body seems to have planted largely of corn; so that there will be no scarcity of breadstuffs

Merchants in this country are doing but little business-prices are advancing [illegible] and I suppose that dry goods will be as high by next spring as the[y] were twenty years ago. Coffee is retailing at 33 1/3 cts per Ib-other description of groceries are not so high as coffee-Salt is up considerably-We still have a small stock of goods on hand, which we will try and dispose of in some way this year-our Rail Road is now finished to within four miles of our village-will reach here in about a month-16

I am getting along tolerably well with my little family matters, my land is about medium quality for this country and cost me 14.00 per acre. My corn crop looks well, but will require about two more good rains to make it good-a great deal of it is now in Roasting ears. My Wheat and oats turned out as well as I expected-I have sowed a small turnip patch and will sow another in next month. Peaches and Watermelons are ripening-so we have plenty to eat just now. We expect taxes to be high-so we must eat fruit and vegetables and sell corn, what to get money to pay taxes-Your affectionate Son

H. W. Luttrell

Tell Wm to write me17 Second Ala. Hospital18

Richmond Va

Saturday 16? May 1863

My Dear Sue,

I know I have been slow about writing this time, but I have been so very busy for the last three days that I hardly had time to eat. I wrote you four days ago on my arrival at the city. I have succeeded, after a good deal of trouble in getting a very nice situation, and I must say that I am indebted to Dr. Clarke19 for several acts of kindness. He seemed to take considerable interest in getting me a good situation-I have now got the position of clerk 2M Ala. Hospital, a place that will work me pretty closely, but I have quite a pleasant office and Dr. Baker, the surgeon in charge,20 seems to be quite a gentleman [.] on yesterday we had 163 occupants but yesterday we sent 54 to camps[.] The Hospitals are nearly all full now and another fight is expected21-Camp Winder hospital now has about 3000 occupants.22 I came very near taking up quarters there, but finally saw the opening and succeeded in getting it, and I think it will be a permanent one, which you know is better than to be thrown back into Ranks again. Richmond is a considerable place. Oh what a bustle! My Dear Sue, I feel thankful that I have succeeded in getting a good situation. I feel a great deal better satisfied than I did, and now if I had you and our sweet little children with me I could endure it very well: but you may place me in the best circles, and feed me on the best the land affords, and it is all nothing compared with home enjoyment-I believe I could get a discharge, but I would be thrown into ranks again before a month so if I can only keep my health I think I will stay here until the Hospital is empty then if I can get a discharge I will do it[.] I suppose the Yankees have been almost at your door since I left[.] I do hope they may be checked soonf.] I have your letter of 30? April which is the last. Direct your letters in future to

Care 2nd Ala. Hospital

Richmond Va.

It is only 1/4 mile from 3-Hospital [.]23 When I came to the city I had my clothes all dirty, and that is not half, they were lousy-I had to buy one for which I paid 7.00, just a course cotton shirt made for solders wear. I then got two [illegible] ones for which I paid 125 each which is cheap enough. They are sent here by our state for Ala troops and furnished then at cost or less. I wish I had a summer coat now it is getting so hot. Your Brother Wm was here yesterday evening but told me he would go to his command to day.24 He is well and keeps entirely sober-Buck Finley25 is here also-has got an appointment in the clerical department-I have had a hard task to day which was to make out pay Rolls for 109 men, and then get all of their signatures when one half of them could not raise up in their beds-Oh what a pitiful sight to see so many men-shot all to pieces! it is truly heart rending to go among them My Dear-(I say my dear but oh how much it lacks of expressing my feelings) I feel hopeful of meeting you again before long-oh how would we enjoy it! would we not be the most happy pair in the world? We surely would-It is 9 ? clock at night I am very tired-will go to bed and see if I cant dream about you and our baby, and be happy, at least in my sleep. I am so glad the calamity that we once apprehended did not take place-the missing of which was worth so much to us[.] I will finish this in the morning

Sunday Morning-17th May 1863

[End]

Your letter was mailed at Selma June 30th-how does this happen[?1 I suppose you send them to this P.O. That is as soon as they usually get here

2nd Alabama Hospital

Richmond Va. July 6, 1863

My Dear Sue,

I have just Rec- your very interesting letter 25- ult. and you only can imagine with what pleasure I perused it. I am truly glad to know that you are all well except Chester.26 If you could get along as well with him at home I would rather you would have him [brought] back. But I know you have your hands full without him. I would much prefer all the children would have whooping cough now than in cold weather. I think with a little experience from what you tell me you will make a good farmer. I am in hopes your crops may continue to do well and that you may be able to get your wheat thrashed, [illegible], and put up in good time. My dear, as it regards my getting a transfer you cant do anything to assist me that I know of, neither can AIx. Willson.27 I have written to William to look out for a situation at Talladega or Oxford28 and to let me know at once. I send his letter by Mr Brady by whom I will send this one. He is detailed to work in the [illegible] with his father who lives 4 miles below Jacksonville. I suppose Wmwill see you, and talk the matter over. If Majr. Gay would send a request that I be transferred to Oxford it would be quite a help to me. The fact is I dont know that I could obtain one any other way[.] I have written William to go to Talladega and make inquiry for me. He can tell them what sort of business would suit me and all about my qualifications. I will of course prefer a clerkship of some sort the same situation that I have here would suit me best, as I am entirely unable to do any hard labor.

Well Dear, we cant tell anything about the future really-but I do think the war will close this year. Our whole Army is now in Penn.29 Vice President Stephens and secty. of War have gone down to Fortress Monroe on a flag of truce boat to have a clear understanding about the war30-whether the [Union] intend[s] to continue their depredations upon private property or not. and I would say if they dont agree to quit ro[b]bing women and children, and destroying farming implements, that something wonderful will happen among the dutch31 that they will remember a long time for we now have them at our mercy, and I am told that our soldiers have as yet been controlled by Genl. Lee, but is hard to do. Most of them have friends who have suffered from the hand of the enemy. I think it will have a good effect to carry the war into their own country. Well dear, on yester I went to church for the first time since I came to the city-it was Episcopal service. We had very fine music, both vocal, and from the church organ. All sing, and all read the bible, and pray all the same time. Somebody preached a very good sermon mostly on the subject of the war, though he got his text in the bible. One little incident occurred that I noticed particularly. A little girl about 10 years old and a brother younger than herself came in after services had commenced. She opened a pew down close by me and went in and closed the door after. The little boy looked at his sister, and seemed to say he wanted a seat too (the House was crowded) but she gave him frowning look, which he understood to mean that he could not get in by her. (there was plenty of room for him) He was considerably embarrassed-and began to look around for a seat, when a young ladyjust in front kindly opened her pew door and gave the little boy a seat which relieved him very much. It made me think of an important lesson that all children should be taught. Teach Dollie32 to love her brothers and when I come home I will help you. I could not bear to see Dollie mistreat Oscar.33 The little fellow is so manly-and at the same time he is so sensitive. He feels keenly any ill treatment. I sometimes think I will give you some instructions in regard to training our little angels, but you have studied their dispositions so much and are with them all the [time] that you know better what lessons than I can tell you. I would suggest that you talk to them a great deal often one at a time, whenever a good lesson can be taught them it should not be neglected, your talks or lectures should never be continued longer than they ar[e] deeply interested. It should be so managed or timed that they would always be glad when you talk to them. Oh! how do you let Chester stay away? I am so fearful that his tender affections will be so weaned off from you. You know I could not bear for him to love anybody better than you. I am so sorry to hear of David Anderson's34 death-he was such a good soldier-Poor fellow he has fallen in the prime of his life. His sisters will all regret it so much-This Civil War. Well Richmond is still threatened by the Yankees,35 but we have force enough to keep them off-Do you hear from your Brother John36 now How is he? I have not subscribed for the "Illustrated" but I buy a copy now and then from the news boys. I send you a daily frequently-It has been raining for about 10 days most of the time, is now raining hard. I have eaten about half the fruit you sent me-is very good.-I have felt pretty well since Uncle Glover37 was here except a boil on my knee has troubled me a good deal-it is nearly well-we still have 86 patients. When we get entirely out, if I dont get a transfer, I will try to get a furlow for most seezon all, this year I think if W^sub m^ will help me I can get to Talladega. Yours affectionately

H W Luttrell

Second Division, Ala. Hospital

Richmond Va July 19th 1863

My Dear Sue,

I rec^sup d^ yours of 12th inst. this morning which is the first date since 27th ult. that I have recd. You surely did not wait from 27th to 12 without writing to me. I of course come to the conclusion that I dont get more than half the letters you write me. I never heard anything about the disaster to Morgans Regt. that you speak of.38 I hope John is safe-I have as yet heard nothing from William Elston. Lees Army is again on this side the Potomac.39 I mailed a paper to you this morning containing a full list of casualties in my Regt.40 But few of our wounded have yet arrived. I greatly fear that the yankees got most of them. All those that come in are only slightly wounded. We now have ninety patients in this division. I wrote you that the surgeon who was in charge when I first came was ordered to the field. Since that[,] both of the Lts. have been ordered off, and we now have a bran new set of officers-I was very well satisfied with the old ones but dont know how I will like the new ones. I am in hopes I will not have to try them much longer, but I cant tell certainly about that. Our board of examiners will meet at this Division on Wednesday next, and I have almost come to the conclusion to make application for a discharge. I may or may not get one. If I am recommended by the board, I think I would be very likely to go through safe though it would be several days before I would know the result. I will write you if I get a recommendation, immediately.

I think you had better not sell that Muslin Dress-but make it up ready to wear when I get home. Tell Mrs. [illegible] if you are a married woman, you are not an old one, and if you were, that is no argument against neat dressing. Muslin of that description is now worth 5.00 per yard here-and if you were to sell yours you would be troubled to replace it at fifty Dollars even. You know if goods of that description was not very scarce, they could be had in Selma, but the fact is they are not to be had at any price-If the war continues, a Dress of that sort cant be bought for $100.00 in six months from now. After reading your letter this morning I asked myself what would I give to see you all just as you described yourself and our little angels. All ive got would be nothing just for one hour at home. I drew all the money that was due me up to the first of this month except my bounty41-I tell you, it came in good time for I had spent all I left home with. We have had a great deal of rain recently. I am anxious to get your next letter. Have you had any water mellions yet[? What] is the prospect for fruit, I mean peaches? The dried peaches you sent me was quite a treat. I have some of them yet. I learn that Dr. Ghent42 did not go home, but is still at Winder Hospital about three miles distant from here. You never have said whether Uncle Glover got home or not. I wrote you by him. I did not feel well enough to go to church to day. A very wealthy lady, a resident of this city was arrested yesterday on the charge of being a spie.43 She was detected by an intercepted letter. Dr. Clarks brother John was wounded-two fingers shot off. I wrote you by Mr. Caruth a few days since-This is Sunday evening. All have left the office save myself-Oh how I wish I could spend the evening with you my dear wife! But let us live hereafter-in sweet anticipation of meeting soon. You must not suffer yourself to be troubled on account of my absence. Be of good cheer-we will be happy yet-Your affectionate Harvey-

Howd. Grove Hospital44

Richmond Vajany. la 1863(45)

My Dear Sue

After a very cold and blustery New Years day, I am again seated by my little stove which I have, with a good deal of difficulty lit up. We only have half a supply of [wood] tonight, cold as it is.

Several of the different churches contributed something for a new years dinner for the patients of This Hospital, and I got a very good dinner. They had a splendid table in the second Div. or the Mississipi Div.-The Mississippi members of Congress were invited out. Some of them made speeches. I heard Senators Brown and Marshal46 speak and Mr Class from Florida. They were all very short but tried to speak as encouragingly as possible. Brown says that the two greatest and most important measures-is to increase the Army, and improve the currency-and in them both, I think him right, but I dont like his plans at all[.]471 cant tell what they are in a letter.

Well My Dear-I only seated myself to wish you a happy New Year but oh [how] can I expect you to enjoy it, with so much to care for, and having to live such a loanly life? How often do I wish I was with you to share your toils and cares-also to share in the enjoyment and pleasure of training our Sweet little offspring: oh Sue, can you feel-or appreciate-or imagine how badly I want to see you all tonight. Think for one moment that you were a thousand miles from me and the children and no chance at all for you to get too us-Oh is it not enough to make one go Crazy! It seems to me that I never will become accustomed to it. The longer I have to suffer is the less patience that I have.

I am very anxious to get the letter you wrote after you returned from your pa[']s. You were gone so long I am almost afraid something went wrong at home but I hope not-my candle is nearly gone I must close

I think you will write to me to day Dearest, with your Sympathy and good wishes. I surely ought to bear my lot with more patience-You have promised you would pray for me-You have promised that our little Babes never should forget me-what more could I ask? nothing-If I am only kindly remembered by an affectionate and loving wife, and four sweet little children, Surely I ought to be better satisfied-Oh could I see the little fellows romping-or eating-or hear them laugh-or even hear them cry-what a pleasure! Sue-you only can imagine my feelings this night, while here, all alone in my office-God Bless you Dearest. Only love me and I am satisfied-Kiss our Babes for me. Now a long loving embrace-and I bid you good night

Your Affectionate

Harvey-

Sunday

Howard Grove Hospital

Richmond V^sup a^ March 6th 1864

My Dear Sue,

As yet I know as little about my transfer as I did two weeks agoonly that I put in my application eight days ago. I suppose it has gone to my command and thence to Genl. Lee for approval or disapproval. If it is approved, I dont expect to hear from it soon enough to get away from here before 20th or 25th Inst.48 If it is disapproved, I am at my rowes end and will have to content myself in this city-I wish my Capt. was at the company49 when my application gets there because I know he would be entirely willing to my transfer-the one in command may be also.

Yours of the 24th Febey. is to hand, and oh how glad I am to know that you are all well, and that the soldiers trouble you so little! I do hope they will still continue their good behavior. I wrote you in my last to have the roof of the Miller House taken off and cover the stable with the boards-also take the floor out and let the wall stand-better take the roof off the [illegible] House too-as they might make a camp house of that-Dont go up there yourself for you dont know who you might meet there if the women you speak of are there-Say as little about the circumstances as possible-only get them out. Tell Dollie the kernels she Sent me were very good indeed-I will send her and Oscar some new books first chance I get. I suppose they have got the presents I sent them by Bill Finley before now-50

I sometimes think that Dollie ought to have another name. Does she ever express herself pleased with any particular name. I suppose not. This is mentioned only for us to think about. I dont now feel that I ever consulted your feelings properly in regard to her name.

Well Dearest, I am living better now than when I wrote you on the subject of hard times here. Our commutation has been raised from 1.25 to 2.50 per day, which would [illegible] down very well only provisions have gone up to such enormous prices-Corn meal is now selling at $45.00 per Bushel-Flour $275.00 Per [barrel] Bacon 6.00 to 8.00 per Ib. Butter $9.00-Eggs $4.00 Per Doz. So you may imagine that our fair is not extravagant. hotels now charge 10.00 a meal$5.00 for lodgingΓ.1 that is two meals and lodging for $25.00. In addition to my rations at the Hospital-I usually get a dollars worth of something in the city-to keep me from starving-so you may see I am not laying up much money for the support of my family-for a dollar I can get one potatoe about as large as my finger and two small bisskets-half as large as you usually make them-though I will neither starve, nor steal until times get still worse-though the present fare is a sufficient excuse for a great many to do the latter, though I suppose they would have but little scruples-even in good times-if they could only hide well.-With undying Devotion-Your-Harvey

Howd Grove Hospital

Richmond, Va. May 25th. 1864

Dear Sue,

We learn today that Genl. Johnson is falling back to Marietta. Ga. If this is the case you may expect to hear of the Yankees being in or near our County before a great while.511 do hate to contemplate such an event, but it seems that we all have to suffer more or less, while this unhappy war lasts. General Lee is now falling back, is now only 16 miles from Richmond, and it is thought that he will eventually come to the City and in that event, we will hear the thunder of the cannon here very soon.52

Thursday Morning-26th.

We now hear cannon firing in the distance very plainly. I do hope this battle will wind up the War. Capt. Rogan,·'3 of the 10th. Ala. Regt. died in this City yesterday from the effects of wounds lately reed. He was a very worthy young man. Our Hospl. is almost entirely filled up with wounded. A few sick among them. Cousin George was all right on 22nd. inst.54

Dearest I must now bid you goodby for the present as my business gives me but little time. Tell our Babies how I love them. Give my love to Eva and Kittie.55

Your Devoted

Harvey

Howd Grove Hospl.

Richmond May 30th. 1864

My dear Sue.

Your very welcome letter of 20lh Inst. reached me a few minutes ago. The perusal brings afresh to my mind the many happy days that we have experienced. Yes love those happy days will surely return. No love, I have not been called to the field, but I have been called to do all the labor that I am able to do, and more too, but I will try to bear it. We now have 654 patients in this Division or 1300 in the Hospl. and we are going to fix forthwith for the accommodation of 500 more, in tents.56

Genl. Lee's army is now within 6 miles of the city. We are looking daily for a big fight to come off, even now cannonading is distinctly heard. Beauregard's forces are passing through the city to reenforce Genl Lee. Everybody is hopeful of success.57

Well Dearest, last night I dreamed of meeting you at home and after a sweet embrace I hurried to the bed with you, to see our four cherubs, who were all sleeping not knowing that I was present. The emotions of gladness were so great as to awaken me almost immediately. Oh Surely, our meeting will be a happy one. I have not written you often recently-knowing that my letters would only remain in the post office, as all hands were called out for the defence of the City.58 Yes Love, that Daughter of ours is an angel, oh how I could enjoy the company of our babes and I would not have one less for anything. My Dear, I cant write you as I would wish [because] I cant claim an hours leisure until things settle down. News has just reached us that a general engagement took place this evening between Grant and Lee and that Lee is driving Grant back with a great deal of ease-I hope this is correct.

Corn is now held at $100.00 per Bushel in this City. I believe everybody thinks our debt will not be paid, though our Independence be gained, and all they want is money enough to pay Taxes.

Congress will adjourn tomorrow I suppose.59

I wish I had a mess of cherries off of our largest tree. I send you a few cherrie seed of a very superior quality-which please plant or keep until fall. I have only had a few this year, say a dozen.

Dollie, Oscar, Elston and Chester, my sweet little Children how badly I do want to see you. Your mother only knows. Oh Sue is it not hard? but I have witnessed things recently that were as trying to others as this to us. I can tell you a great many distressing circumstances that have happened, when I see you.

My love, I know your prayers ascend daily in my behalf, but we must not expect to be too well situated in these troubled times.

I must now bid you an affectionate adieu.

Harvey

Howard Grove Hospl.

Richmond Va.

Sept. 3rd 1864

My Dear Sue,

I just recd yours of 21st August in which you tell me that you are all well and of your very pleasant surprise by a visit from Cousins Mattie, Mary and our other kinsfolk.60 I am glad you enjoyed their visit as well.

Cousin George went up the County to visit a Cousin of ours and has not returned, if he dont come to night, I will send this by Mail. I am truly Sorry for Ruth Burton. I know she is greatly distressed. I have no news to write, only that McClellan is nominated for the yankee Presidency, a full account of which you will get in your Selma paper. For my part I only hope he may be elected for I have no hope of Lincoln ever making any concessions to the South. He has not got Sence enough. From a sensible man we might look for something.61

Did you ever get the Blanket I sent you by Corpl Neighbors?62 or the Package sent by Seay? I may be mistaken about his having lost.

This leaves me in my usual health. Yes Love, 1 know we will be happy when we all get together, for we will then enjoy to the fullest extent those "Loving embraces". I often dream of thee + our Sweetest children.

As ever Your-Harvey

Yours of 15th Reed yesterday

Sunday

Howard Grove Hospl.

Richmond Va Sept 25 '64

My Dear Sue.

To day has been quite dull with me; am not very well, nor have I anything more than usual to complain of, but I must say that I have not enjoyed the day up to this time (4 O clock). I think I will go to church to night as we have some very fine preachers in the city, and the weather is just cool enough to be bracing. We are daily expecting another great battle for the possession of Richmond and I very much fear Grant will succeed in getting all of our Southern Rail Roads.63 and if so, we will be entirely cut off from all Communications by mail, and what would I regret more than to be deprived of communicating with you, the Dearest object of my affections (our children next). But it looks like we will have to make up our minds to fear the worstbut nonwithstanding things look so very dark just now, I still have a hope that this year will end the Contest. Genl. Grant can only take Richmond by Siege. It is thought by Some that the city is provisioned for six months-by others not more than three. I of course know nothing about that. Grant is mustering a great force, but our troops are in fine spirits, and will do good fighting-and you know the battle is not always to the strong. This is my Conclusion. If we hold Richmond the war is ended-If we loose it-the war is prolonged.-About 1000 Confederate prisoners arrived in the city a few days ago-they will all be furloughed for 30 days I learn64-they look badly and complain of their treatment north. I am truly glad you have news from John that he was not killed.

I have just spent a half hour very pleasantly with Cousin Turnley65who called to See-I have not been to see him in over three monthsso you may see how closely I stick to business-he is very friendly and social, and I think his wife-who I call Cousin Ann, is almost an exception of a woman-she is quite a dignified lady-very social and friendly

I would like so much to help you dig (eat) your potatoes. Well when the war is over we can [and] will I know-

I recda letter from Bro. William several days ago. He is not very far from Atlanta.

I must close as supper is announced-it consists of coffee without sugar and bread.-If I had anything to write to your Pa I would do so.66 but I have nothing-Gold is never worth 24 rolls.

Oh how I could enjoy this Sabbath being with my Dear Wife and sweet little children! Oh Love-do you know how badly I want to See you!-God Bless you

Your Affectionate-Harvey

Howd Grove Hospl.

Richmond Oct 4th 1864

My Dear Wife

There is now a great call for soldiers, and the examining board are sending a great many to the field who have heretofore been considered unfit for duty and I am one of that class. The Board decided to day that I should go to my command. I dont know exactly when I will start-but very soon. I will write you the day I do start. Dont write to this place any more until you hear from me again. I have an excellent trunk-full of clothes which I will leave either at the Alabama Depot in the care of Majr Vandeven or with Cousin Nelson G. Turnley. I will let you know in my next which place I leave them at. I did not think of going to the field or I would not have had so many on hand; but you know it is my disposition to be well provided with every thing

Give this Ribbon to our Sweet little Daughter and the comb to our Dear little Oscar. Tell them to keep them as presents from their Pa who would give almost anything to see you all this night: But Dearest I now leave to go where danger is-where all is uncertainty-but I hope God will spare me that I may again be united with my beloved Family. Oh how unmeaning are words! How much they lack of expressing our feelings for one another! I will take your Ambrotype and the little Ringlets of hair fixed up by Eva with me. Oh Sue-you only can imagine how I felt this evening when I took them from my trunk and put them in my knapsack, but I will carry them in my breast pocket where I can see them frequently for that is all the pleasure I experience-and if I die upon the battle field or in the Camps I will die with those precious treasures in my hand, and you my beloved wife will live for the sake of our children!

My Dear Sue. I write this without any forebodings-but who can tell what a day may bring forth! Our Sainted Mothers67 told us to meet them in Heaven. We will.

I will write you the day I start, until then, farewell My Angel-God Bless you and our dear little children.

Your affectionate

Husband

H. W. Luttrell

Howard Grove Hospl.

Richmond Va Oct 10th 64

My Adored and Loving Wife

I write to inform you that I start to my Regt. to day which is near Petersburg and this morning I can but appreciate more fully the many little comforts and conveniences which I have enjoyed while staying here; but I must bid adieu once more to all such luxuries as a fire place and Straw bed, which I would like very much to retain, but instead of must go and try the Cold Ditch with one Blkt. + an oil cloth. This is all I can carry, although I have more. We have had two good frosts on this morning and one yesterday morning. I hardly know how I will get along, but fate Says I must try. You know I am less able to stand exposure than most persons. I will write you as often as I can and keep you posted as to my health for I know your great anxiety about me. I will write you immediately after my arrival at Camp if I possibly can, but everything is excitement and uncertainty then. May God grant that I may live through all this and be again united with my Angellic wife and children.

On looking at your Ambrotype and those dear little Ringlets of Hair I thought the enclosed lines from Byron expressed my feelings so much better than language I could select that I copy from him[.]68 I have deposited my trunk with Cousin Nelson G. Turnley "Colledge Hospital" Richmond Va.69 It [is] pretty well filled-has in it my large knife. It is big to carry in my Pocket and a book which I thought we would some day read together-a toothbrush which I intended to send you and various other things-mostly articles of clothing.

The time draws nigh for me to start and I must close-Oh may God bless you and our dear little Children and vouch safe to us a happy meeting-in the future-Oh Love, my breast is so full this morning. I cant come near expressing my love and affection for you. You only can imagine what I now feel.

Farewell Dearest One for the present. Oh Kiss our Dear little babes and tell them how their Pa loves them.

H. W. Luttrell

P.S. I think Richmond is in greater danger than ever before. H. W. L.

Camp near Petersburg

Oct 14th 1864

My Dear Sue,

I arrived at the Regt. yesterday evening, and the Boys and Newspapers say times are quiet70 and no doubt it seems so to them-but not so to me-for the Yanks throw about 40 or so shells into the City every day and the minie balls are whistling over my tent almost all the time, day and night. Two men have been killed and one wounded in our Regt. since I came to it. I wrote you about Woods death day before yesterday-Capt Coleman from Talladega71 was killed yesterday another young man wounded in the head this morning. Our entrenchments are very close to those of the enemy and the sharp shooters and Pitckets are firing all the time and the one who holds his head a little too high is in a good deal of danger. Well, had I no one to love-No Dear family who have a right to look to me for support, I would care but little for all this danger. God knows if life is to continue what it has been for two or three years past, it is hardly worth living, but the idea of leaving our loved families at such times is more than some can feel willing to do-I care but little on my own accounts. But it is now conceded by both parties that this is the last campaign and I hope it may be so

I am excused from heavy duty by the Surgeon for ten days on account of my feeble condition. I find the soldiers are not well prepared for winter some are very thinly clad-they have not a good supply of Blankets either. I only brought one with me and I feel like 3 would not have been too many every night-I am satisfied that I could stand Camp but a short time-but the rule now is to put all hands in who are able to do only a few days duty. Well Dearest, when the war is over I hope we will be amply repaid for all of our sacrifices-but if it depends upon our having made them cheerfully I don't know sometimes whether I can claim the reward or not.

Cousin Geo. Turnley has not yet arrived but I look for him soonOld Esqr. Brook72 will start to Richmond on 22- I learn you can send a letter by him + a small package of dried fruit if you will fix it up. I dont want anything in the way of Clothing If you send it-please sew it up in a small [illegible]-Dont attempt to send more than a small passel.

I must now close as the mail will soon start. I dreamed last night of seeing the Angelic woman that I ever beheld. She was draped in plain white. I was only ten feet from her, but I did not go to her. Her name was Sue Luttrell-oh how happy I was for a moment!

May God unite us soon and then we will be happy in deed.

Your affectionate Husband

H. W. Luttrell

I write this on my knee hence it is badly written.

P.S.73 The minie balls are flying through our camps all the time-two men wounded in our Regt. yesterday-one of them in my company. We occupy a very dangerous part of the line but it is very supprising to see how careless men get to be, even in the midst of danger. I know I am cautious, but I frequently find myself almost totally forgetful of Surrounding danger but I will guard myself against this as much as I can. I have just learned that Cousin George has got his furlough extended thirty days. Col Forney + Capt Farmer74 will be out in about a month. I hope another month will close the Campaign as well as the war.

Farwell

Yours Truly

H. W. Luttrell

1 With the exceptions of the seventh and eighth letters, which were transcribed in the twentieth century, perhaps by Luttrell descendent Laurie Barber Strong, and for which no originals exist, all of these letters were transcribed directly from the originals, now in the possession of Ann M, Byrd of Laurel, Maryland, a Luttrell descendent. Thanks to Luttrell's neat script and relatively high degree of literacy, the letters are extremely legible and coherent. The author's spelling, grammar, and punctuation have been maintained to preserve the integrity of the original. When necessary, interpolations have been added in brackets to clarify meaning, and illegible words have been noted. Annotations identify persons, places, and events mentioned by Luttrell; any omissions signify that the reference could not be identified with certainty.

2 This and much of the following peacetime information on Luttrell and his family has been ably compiled by Frank Alex Luttrell III in A History of the Luttrell Family of Escambia County, Alabama (n.p., 1991), 8-14. Frank Luttrell's work relies heavily on a family history by Harvey's son Elston, A Genealogy and Biography of the Family of Luttrell (1066 to 1893) (Hammac, Ala., 1893), reprinted as Elston Luttrell, A Genealogy and Biography of the Family of Luttrell, 1066-1893, ed. John A. Dye and Judy Dye (Kent, Wash., 1991).

3 U.S. Census, 1860, National Archives Microfilm Publication M653, reel 4, Alabama, CaIhoun County.

4 William Warren Rogers et al., Alabama: The History of a Deep South State (Tuscaloosa, 1994), 182-85.

5 Luttrell's defiance of conventional ideological beliefs (and interpretations thereof by modern historians) is particularly notable here. He expressed hostility toward the North because of the threat it allegedly posed to southern freedom (an anomaly, according to James McPherson, given Luttrell's socioeconomic standing), but Luttrell's silence on the issues of race and slavery is deafening. McPherson identifies the "pairing of slavery and liberty as the twin goals" that drew many Confederates into the ranks (although he argues for a shift in motivation over the course of the conflict). Luttrell did comment on "northern aggression," but he apparently did not perceive it as a threat to southern slavery or white privilege, nor did he see either as important enough to defend by enlisting in 1861. James M. McPherson, For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War (New York, 1997), 102, 20; see also Chandra Miller Manning, "What This Cruel War Was Over: Why Union and Confederate Soldiers Thought They Were Fighting the Civil War" (Ph.D. diss., Harvard University, 2002), especially 158-60.

6 Alabama Civil War Service Cards File, Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH), Montgomery.

7 Stewart Sifakis, Compendium of the Confederate Armies, vol. 3, Alabama (New York, 1992), 69-70; Alabama Civil War Service Cards File.

8 Stephen W. Berry II, All Thai Makes a Man: Love and Ambition in the Civil War South (New York, 2003), 80; James Marten, "Fatherhood in the Confederacy: Southern Soldiers and Their Children, "Journal of Southern History 63 (May 1997): 269-92. Marten makes the case for how separation "helped fathers focus more completely and determinedly on their progeny" and "how important to [men's] self-images were their roles as fathers" (p. 292).

9 Gerald F. Linderman's Embattled Courage: The Experience of Combat in the American Civil War (New York, 1987) argues that soldiers were primarily motivated to enlist and to fight by courage, which "was the fulfillment of man's highest nature" (p. 20). Luttrell's letters offer little evidence that he shared the same priority. Instead, the resilience of Luttrell's faith in Confederate independence may have resulted from his immunity to the widespread disillusionment that Linderman claims the early gallants experienced toward the end of the brutal war. Alternatively, perhaps Luttrell was among those Confederates at Petersburg whose desperate hopes led them to "continue fighting the enemy no matter what happened," though Luttrell did not seem eager to shoulder that part of the burden personally. J. Tracy Power, Lee's Miserables: Life in the. Army of Northern Virginia from the Wilderness to Appomattox (Chapel Hill, 1998), 315. Finally, the possibility of Luttrell simply putting on a good face for his wife cannot be discounted as the cause for his optimism.

10 In addition to the letters and other memorabilia, Luttrell's papers include an envelope containing his parole order, a provost marshal's pass, and Luttrell's handwritten description of his trip home.

11 U.S. Census, 1870, National Archives Microfilm Publication M593, reel 5, Alabama, Calhoun County.

12 Frank Alex Luttrell III, History of the Lutlrell Family, 12-13.

13 THe Calhoun County cooperationists were defeated by a margin of three to one in the December 24, 1860, election to send delegates to the state secession convention. John A. Jackson, "Calhoun County's View of the Civil War at Home through the Columns of the Jacksonville Republican" (master's thesis, Jacksonville State University, 1996), 33.

14 Luttrell's specific complaint against the Democratic Party is not clear, but he may have agreed with Alexander Stephens's estimation that the "game" of radical southern Democrats "is that of the demagogue, always a low, mean and base one." Quoted in William Barney, The Road to secession: A New Perspective on the Old South (New York, 1972), 138.

15 July 21, 1861. Union forces suffered 2,952 total casualties (killed, wounded, and missing); the Confederates, 1,752. William H. Price, The Civil War Handbook (Fairfax, Va., 1961), 67.

16 Most likely the Alabama and Tennessee River Railroad, which by 1861 stretched from Selma to nearby Anniston. Augustine D. Edwards, "Economic and Social History of Benton County, Alabama" (master's thesis, University of Alabama, 1941), 71; Calhoun County Heritage Book Committee, The Heritage of Calhoun County, Alabama (Clanton, Ala., 1998), 49; Oxford, Alabama, Centennial, 1860-1960: Souvenir Program (n.p., 1960).

17 Most likely his older brother William Cunnyngham (or Cunningham) Luttrell (181881), who resided in Oxford.

18 The Second Alabama Hospital was a converted tobacco factory (Turpin andYarbrough's) located at the corner of 25th and Franklin Streets in Richmond. It opened in November 1861 with a capacity for more than 125 patients. The building's use as a hospital came to an end in September 1863 when the superintendent of Alabama's hospitals in Virginia, Juliet Opie Hopkins, closed the state facilities after "concluding] that she could not continue to operate the hospitals." Edwin Bridges speculates this decision may have resulted from her own illness, the difficulty of obtaining scarce supplies for a rapidly expanding operation, and a trend toward centralizing control of medical care for soldiers under Confederate rather than state authority. Edwin C. Bridges, "Juliet Opie Hopkins and Alabama's Civil War Hospitals in Richmond, Virginia," Alabama Review 53 (April 2000): 96-98; Robert W. Waittjr., Confederate Military Hospitals in Richmond (Richmond, 1964), 5; see also H. H. Cunningham, "Confederate General Hospitals: Establishment and Organization," Journal of Southern History 20 (August 1954): 376-94. For further information on Alabama hospitals in Virginia, see Alabama Hospitals in Richmond, Va., Administrative Files, 1861-1905, and n.d., SG 24709 Reels 17-18, ADAH. The hospital register for Howard's Grove Hospital on April 30, 1863, indicates that Luttrell was "entirely unfit for field service" due to "asthma + rheumatism." As a result, Luttrell transferred (with the help of his regimental surgeon; see the following note) to the second Alabama Hospital, where, according to records, he served as a clerk until he received a thirty-day furlough on October 3, 1863. He returned to duty at Howard's Grove after his furlough ended (see note 44). Alabama Civil War Service Cards File.

19 Dr. Courtney J. Clark, the surgeon for the 10th Alabama Infantry, was transferred to Richmond in 1861 to act as chief surgeon for the Alabama hospitals operated by Juliet Opie Hopkins. Alabama Civil War Service Database, ADAH, s.v. "Clark, C. J.," http://www. archives.state.al.us/civilwar/search.cfm (accessedJune I, 2005); Bridges, "Juliet Opie Hopkins," 95.

20 Perhaps Paul DeLacy Baker, a Confederate surgeon from Alabama. Alabama Civil War Service Database, s.v. "Baker, Paul DeLacy" (accessed May 18, 2005).

21 The casualties are likely from the action at Chancellorsville, Virginia, May 1-4, when Lee's army lost 12,281 men in a costly victory over Gen. Joseph Hooker's Army of the Potomac. Price, Civil War Handbook, 67.

22 Opened in April 1862, Winder General Hospital was one of the largest hospitals in the Confederacy, with beds for more than five thousand patients. Cunningham, "Confederate General Hospitals," 383-84; Waitt, Confederate Military Hospitals, 21-22.

23 Another converted tobacco factory located four blocks from the second Alabama Hospital. Waitt, Confederate Military Hospitals, 5.

24 William Clark Elston (1829-99); the unit in which he served is not known.

25 William M. Findley (orFinley), who was also a private in Company G of the 10th Alabama Infantry and a resident of Calhoun County. Janet B. Hewett, ed., Alabama Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865 (Wilmington, N.C., 1999), 1:199; Doris P. Doss, comp., Index to 1860 Census of Calhoun County, Alabama, with Mortality Schedule and Index (Anniston, Ala., 1983), 39.

26 Luttrell's son, Chester McAuley Luttrell (1862-1941).

27 Alexander G. Wilson, a private in Company H of the 10th Alabama Infantry and a farmer in Calhoun County. Hewett, Alabama Confederate Soldiers, 2:698; Doss, Index to 1860 Census of Calhoun County, 39.

28 Most likely his brother William. Talladega was home to a Confederate hospital and training camp, and Oxford had a supply depot. Luttrell may have been seeking to be detailed at either.

29 The Army of Northern Virginia was in retreat in Pennsylvania and Maryland on July 6, having withdrawn from Gettysburg three days earlier.

30 On July 3, Vice President Alexander H. Stephens and secretary of War James A. Seddon left Richmond for Washington, D.C., via Fort Monroe in Hampton, Virginia, on a flagof-truce boat. Under instructions by Confederate president Jefferson Davis to meet with Lincoln to discuss resuming prisoner-of-war exchanges, Stephens hoped that the topic might be a segue to peace discussions, as Lee was seriously threatening the North for the first time. Lincoln, however, received the report of the Confederacy's defeat at Gettysburg and the news of Stephens and Seddon's intent almost simultaneously, and he rejected the latter's request for a pass through Union lines, effectively terminating the mission. James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (New York, 1988), 650, 664.

31 Either a reference to the Pennsylvania Dutch civilians of the region, or a nickname for Union soldiers, perhaps referring to the recent immigrant origins of some of them.

32 Luttrell's daughter (1858-1903). As here, the 1860 census lists her name as Dollie. However, Luttrell family genealogy and the 1870 census list her as Cordelia and Cora, respectively. U.S. Census, 1860, M653, reel 4, Alabama, Calhoun County; Luttrell, History of the Luttrell Family, 26; U.S. Census, 1870, M593, reel 5, Alabama, Calhoun County. See Luttrell's letter of March 6, 1864, for a possible explanation for the change in names.

33 Luttrell's eldest son, Oscar Forney Luttrell (1859-1922).

34 A cousin of the Turnley family.

35 While the Army of Northern Virginia was invading Pennsylvania, Union general John A. Dix landed a small force east of Richmond on the York and Pamunkey Rivers. Richmond's militia marched out to defend the city, bnt the Union troops were repulsed by D. H. Hill's regulars on July 2 at Bottom's Bridge. The Union troops then moved northward, burning crops and a depot at Ashland on July 7 before retreating down the Peninsula.

36 John Humphreys Elston (1835-80), who served in Company A of the 51st Alabama Infantry (formerly Company A, 2nd Alabama Infantry), commanded by John T. Morgan and attached to the Army of Tennessee. Janet B. Hewett, éd., Supplement to the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (Wilmington, N.C., 1994), pt. 2, vol. 1, pp. 793-94; Sifakis, Compendium of the Confederate Armies, 42-43.

37 Glover Mattison, husband of Sue's aunt, Ruth Elston; he served in Company C of the 3rd Alabama Infantry Reserves. Hewett, Alabama Confederate Soldiers, 1:403.

38 See note 36 on Morgan's Regiment. The "disaster" may have been the casualties the unit suffered during the Confederate rout at the Battle of Shelbyville on June 27, 1863.

39 Thwarted from crossing the Potomac by flooding on July 7, Lee camped at Williamsport, . Maryland, until able to cross back into Virginia on July 14.

40 Confederate records list the 10th as having thirteen men killed and ninety-one wounded at Gettysburg. Clement A. Evans, ed., Confederate Military History: A Library of Confederate States History, vol. 12, Alabama and Mississippi (secaucus, N.J., 1899), 90. The entire Army of Northern Virginia lost 3,903 killed, 18,735 wounded, and 5,425 missing. Swafford Johnson, Great Battles of the Civil War (New York, 1984), 110-11.

41 According to a quartermaster's receipt, Luttrell drew his enlistment bounty, fifty dollars, on September 30, 1863. Alabama Civil War Service Cards File.

42Henry C. Ghent, assistant surgeon in Company C of the 13th Alabama Infantry. Hewett, Alabama Confederate Soldiers, 1:223.

43 On July 17, the Richmond Daily Dispatch reported on its front page that "the Yankees are regularly receiving information of everything going on here from one or more ladies of high standing. The parties accused are to be arrested." Three days later the Dispatch reported the accused to be Mary Caroline Allan, a native of Cincinnati and the wife of the prominent Goochland County, Virginia, planter Patterson Allan. Confederate officials intercepted two letters mailed by Allan to northern associates while she was staying with friends in Richmond. One, said the newspaper, "criticized [Union general George] Stoneman's leniency towards the Confederates" during a recent raid. The other "furnished the names [of northerners] who are gravely accused of sympathy with the rebellion, and advises their arrest." It also named estates along the James River that she recommended be burned because of their owners' support for the Confederacy. Allan's first trial ended in a hung jury. Freed on a $100,000 bond and permitted to return home to Goochland County, she was never re-tried before the war's end. Ernest B. Furgurson, Ashes of Glory: Richmond at War (New York, 1996), 220.

44 Howard's Grove General Hospital was another of Richmond's better medical facilities. It opened injune 1862 with capacity for 659 patients (which soon grew to 1,800) and with an attendant staff of approximately 85. Waitt, Confederate Military Hospitals, 19-20.

45 It seems likely that Luttrell meant to write January 1, 1864. He did not enlist until January 31, 1863, and his service records place him at Howard's Grove in 1864. Just prior to this, Luttrell had received a thirty-day furlough beginning October 3 to convalesce at home. Alabama Civil War Service Cards File. This policy was encouraged by the Confederate Congress's Select Committee on Hospitals as "absolutely necessary to the recovery of the soldier [sic] health," or more realistically, to save the hospitals money and manpower. Richmond Enquirer, September 30, 1862.

46 Albert G. Brown, Confederate senator from Mississippi, and Henry Marshall, representative from Louisiana. Bell Irvin Wiley, Embattled Confederates: An Illustrated History of Southerners at War (New York, 1964), 260, 268.

47 In order to address the manpower and inflation problems that plagued the Confederacy, Brown supported a conscription measure that would draft all able-bodied white men into the armed services and a plan that would diminish the quantity of paper money circulating by calling some in (via taxes on property and the notes themselves) and then destroying it. Albert Gallatin Brown, "State of the Country: Speech of Hon. A.G. Brown, of Mississippi, in the Confederate Senate, December 24, 1863," 3, 10, Documenting the American South, http://docsouth.unc.edu/browna/browna.html (accessed May 23, 2005). see also Wilfred Buck Yearns, The Confederate Congress (Athens, Ga., 1960), 86-87, 201-5.

48 A document dated March 26 from the Adjutant and Inspector General's Office (in the same private collection as the letters) describes Luttrell as "being unfit for field duty" and directs him to report to "Surgeon in Charge Hospitals at Selma Ala. for assignment." Given that his next surviving letter was postmarked in Richmond on May 25, 1864, however, it seems that Luttrell failed to obtain a permanent transfer south and was probably ordered to remain in or return to Richmond.

49 Capt. James B. Farmer was the commander of Company G, but he may have been on furlough or in the hospital, leaving someone else in command. Hewett, Alabama Confederate Soldiers, 3:1014.

50 See note 25.

51 Gen. William T. Sherman opened his Atlanta campaign against Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's Army of Tennessee on May 7. He forced Johnston to retreat from his positions at Dalton, Georgia, via a number of flanking movements, and the Confederates fell back to prepared positions at Kennesaw Mountain, near Marietta. As Luttrell predicted, the absence of Johnston's army allowed for Federal raids into Calhoun County. On July 14 an Indiana regiment burned two iron furnaces on Canes Creek; a brief cavalry engagement near Oxford on October 28 resulted in a Confederate victory; and on April 23, 1865, a Union force burned the railroad depot and a cotton factory. Mrs. Frank Ross Stewart, Alabama's Calhoun County (Centre, Ala., 1976), 174-75.

52 Following the bloody and costly battles in and around Spotsylvania, Virginia (May 8-18), Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, commanding the Army of the Potomac, attempted to outflank Lee to get to Richmond. Lee anticipated each move, however, and put the Army of Northern Virginia between the capital and the Union troops through a series of skirmishes and withdrawals.

53 Capt. Richard C. Rogan, commanding officer of Company D, 10th Alabama Infantry. Hewett, Alabama Confederate Soldiers, 3:1012.

54 George I. Turnley, also in Company G, 10th Alabama Infantry, and a resident of Calhoun County. Hewett, Alabama Confederate Soldiers, 2:615; Doss, Index to 1860 Census of Calhoun County, 115.

55 Killy Elston Hudson (1837-74) and Eva Elston DeArman (1842-1905), Susan's older and younger sisters, respectively.

56 The influx of wounded was the result of the month's fighting at the Wilderness and around Spotsyivania. The number of casualties-eighteen thousand sick and woundedcaught hospital authorities in Richmond unprepared and lacking beds. Rather than reopen some of the hospitals previously housed in factories, Quartermaster Gen. Alexander Lawton elected to construct cheaper tent hospitals. Cunningham, "Confederate General Hospitals," 390.

57 Lee's withdrawal from Spotsyivania ended on June 1 at Cold Harbor, northeast of Richmond. There, reinforced by brigades commanded by Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard, who himself had just halted a northward advance on Richmond by Gen. Benjamin Butler at Drewry's Bluff, Lee's troops dug in. On June 3, Grant's troops assaulted the Confederate positions and lost an estimated seven thousand men in just twenty minutes. Johnson, Great Battles of the Civil War, 145.

58 Faced with Union threats from the east (Grant), the south (Butler), and the north (Gen. Philip Sheridan's cavalry), government clerks were forced into action. Emory M. Thomas, The Confederate State of Richmond: A Biography of the Capital (Austin, 1971), 182.

59 Luttrell may mention this in reference to the precautions taken in response to the threat posed by the Union armies, but Congress did not adjourn until June 14. Wiley, Embattled Confederates, 258.

60 Martha and Mattie Turnley, Luttrell's maternal cousins.

61 The Democratic Party nominated George B. McClellan, the former commander of the Army of the Potomac, for the presidency in the election of 1864. The party's platform advocated "a cessation of hostilities" that ran contrary to Lincoln's commitment to see peace achieved by a complete Union victory. Quoted in Bruce Catton, This Hallowed Ground (1956; reprint, New York, 1961), 428. Like Luttrell, many southerners "fervently hoped that the Democrats would carry the day," leading to a quick end to combat. Joseph Allan Frank, With Ballot and Bayonet: The Political Socialization of American Civil War Soldiers (Athens, Ga., 1998), 107.

62 Cpl. John F. Nabors of Company G, 10th Alabama Infantry, a resident of Calhoun County. Hewett, Alabama Confederate Soldiers, 1:463; Doss, Index to 1860 Census of Calhoun County, 83.

63 After being defeated at Cold Harbor, Grant had marched his army around Richmond beginning on June 16 to assault Petersburg, a vital rail center that supplied Richmond and Lee's army.

64 Prisoner exchanges took place regularly until May 1863, when the Union suspended them after the Confederate Congress authorized a policy stipulating the enslavement or execution of black Union prisoners of war. Sporadic local exchanges of sick prisoners continued, however, which this may be an instance of. See William Best Hesseltine, Civil War Prisons: A Study in War Psychology (1930; reprint, Columbus, Ohio, 1998), 227.

65 Nelson G. Turnley, a relative on Luttrell's mother's side, and his wife, Ann Cox Turnley.

66 Allen Elston (1802-79).

67 Mary (Polly) Turnley Luttrell (1797-1831) and Martha Humphreys Elston (1806-55).

68 Unfortunately, the Byron passage did not survive with Luttrell's letter.

69 Also called "Medical College Hospital" and "Old Dominion Hospital" due to its location near the Medical College of Virginia on East Marshall Street, it was built in 1861. Waitt, Confederate Military Hospitals, 9, 37.

70 Luttrell's unit was heavily engaged at Petersburg as part of Gen. A. P. Hill's 3rd Army Corps and was at this time part of the Confederate line along the Boydton Plank Road south of the town. Just prior to Luttrell's arrival they participated in the action at Peeble's Farm on September 30 and October 1, resisting Grant's fifth offensive against the city. After a brief lull in activity, which as Luttrell describes was anything but uneventful, the 10th participated in the fight at Hatcher's Run on October 27. See Richard J. Sommers, Richmond Redeemed: The Siege at Petersburg (Garden City, N.Y., 1981), chaps. 8-9, as well as Noah A. Trudeau, The Last Citadel: Petersburg, Virginia, June 1864-Apnl 1865 (Boston, 1991), chap. 11.

71 Capt. Henry N. Coleman of Company K, 10th Alabama Infantry. Hewett, Alabama Confederate Soldiers, 1:121.

72 Benjamin A. Brooks of Company C, 10th Alabama Infantry, a resident of Calhoun County. Hewett, Alabama Confederate Soldiers, 1:69; Doss, Index to 1860 Census to Calhoun County, 14.

73 Only the postscript survives from this undated letter. Its placement here is suggested by its content.

74 The 10th Alabama Infantry's commanding officer, William H. Forney, and Company G's commanding officer, James B. Farmer. The latter resigned on November 28, 1864, suggesting that this letter may have been written in late October of that year. Hewett, Supplement to the Official Records, pt. 2, vol. 1, p. 416.

John D. Miller is a doctoral student in American Studies at the College of William & Mary. He wishes to thank the American Studies Program for a research grant that funded this project, as well as Thomas Mullins of the Public Library of Anniston-Calhoun County, Alabama. Dieter C. Ullrich of Auburn University Libraries, and Frank Alex Luttrell III.

Copyright University of Alabama Press Jul 2005
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